


The Cat and the Huntress

by Peppermint_Shamrock



Series: Hallowshots [6]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Animal Bride, F/M, Forced Marriage, Marichat, Present Tense, Shapeshifting, alternate universe - folktale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 14:23:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21120245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peppermint_Shamrock/pseuds/Peppermint_Shamrock
Summary: When a powerful beast cuts too far into the village’s food options, a promising young huntress vows to bring the beast down and pursues it into the mountains.She returns with a husband.





	The Cat and the Huntress

**Author's Note:**

> Another present tense fic, as this time I was aiming for something reminiscent of folk and fairy tales.
> 
> Content Warning: This fic makes use of the "Animal Bride" (or in this case, groom) trope, which I didn't think _quite_ warranted the "Dubious Consent" tag (as nothing sexual happens in this story), but may still be an uncomfortable situation for some readers.

There is a village in a valley, surrounded by rolling mountains covered by deep forests. Usually, this is a place of plenty – the villagers want for nothing, as there is ample game to hunt and decent land for farming.

But that has changed.

There is a great beast who prowls near now. No one can quite agree on what the beast is – no one wants to get close enough to be sure. There are a few commonalities in the stories, though – the beast is as dark as night, with bright green eyes that some say glow. And what no one can dispute, that this beast is destroying their food supply – hunting down the game, chasing it further away from village, and even picking away at their livestock. The beast has not harmed any human inhabitants yet, but it doesn’t need to – unless the people do something about it, they will soon be in dire need, struggling to get enough to eat.

And so on this evening they have gathered, adults and children and elders alike, in the village center, to come to a decision, to find a solution to this beast.

Among the crowd is a man called Fu. In his youth, he had been a strong hunter and would have joined those in the center of the discussions, eager and tense and determined to be the one to find the way to save them all. But he is old now, and has been old for some time. So he sits on the periphery and watches, as he supposes all old men must do. Such is the price for growing old, to eventually step aside and pass on their duties to the young.

“We must kill the beast,” one says.

“It is no natural creature,” another insists, “it cannot be killed. We must find a way to appease it.”

“To appease it would drive us to starvation!” yet another cries.

They squabble and they argue and they can decide nothing. But it is better than ignoring the problem, Fu supposes. Better for disagreement to root out the worst decisions and leave them with the good. If their discussions will leave them with any.

The discussion leans in this direction and that, and now they have determined that they must hunt down the beast.

“But how can we hunt what is such a ruthless hunter itself? Any tricks we try, it will know better than us.”

“It is a beast,” someone snorts. “It is a dumb thing, with power, not intelligence, on its side.”

“And as I have said, it is no natural beast. It _is_ intelligent, and it will destroy us for underestimating it. Or for even trying to outwit it.”

“You are a fool,” the other says, “distracted with stories of nothing.”

“So you would hunt the beast?” the first challenges, and his opponent falls silent. “Would anyone here dare?”

There is a long moment of silence, and Fu fears this will be a long evening.

“I will hunt down this beast.”

The voice draws in every eye as its owner steps into the center of their gathering. Fu is unsurprised to see Marinette, the village’s most promising young huntress. He is biased, of course, as he has mentored the girl since her childhood. Her parents, after all, while quite accomplished with the preparation of meals, had no talent for the hunt. Not like Marinette possesses, in any case.

Marinette also possesses a great will, an indomitable spirit of determination. Fu knows her well enough to know that she will not be dissuaded from this path now that she has chosen it, and he worries for her, but does not join the voices of protest.

“You cannot challenge this beast alone,” one of the speakers warns.

“So who will join me?” Marinette asks, her head held high. No one answers, and she continues. “I will go, whether alone or not, and I will pursue this beast. If I cannot capture it, I swear I will at least drive it far away,” she vows.

No matter what words are said to her, she holds firm in her decision, and eventually it is accepted with great reluctance. But what other choice do they have? Something must be done, and even if it means sacrificing their beloved huntress, she goes willingly.

She will leave tomorrow, it is decided. And she will drive the beast away if she cannot kill it. Many do not expect her return.

Fu is not so pessimistic, but still he wishes to speak with her before she leaves.

“I’m not here to dissuade you,” he greets. “I know it would be pointless.”

“I won’t be gone forever,” she says, her look of irritation vanishing at his presence.

“I didn’t expect that you would,” he answers. “Still, I wish to say farewell.”

“Farewell, then,” she says. “And if I do, fare well, I mean, I will owe it to you and all you have taught me.”

“You give me too much credit, and yourself too little,” Fu says. He knows that Marinette would have flourished no matter who had given her the means to do so; such is the person she is. But she is a huntress, and her hunt is approaching, so Fu leaves her to her preparations.

She leaves, and time passes. The beast has vanished, wildlife returns to the land, and the people of the village no longer fear starvation. Marinette does not return as the months stretch on, and Fu is one of the few who do not mourn. He simply waits. He knows, as surely as he knows that the sun will rise, that Marinette will return.

And return she does, and she does not return alone.

Marinette introduces her companion as her husband, to the curiosity of all, and the disappointment of many a young villager who had been enamored with her. But they accept their loss with little more than grumbles, and congratulate the curious couple.

He was from a village deep in the mountains, Marinette tells them, a place she had found respite during her hunt for the beast. There they had met, and there they had fallen in love, and when Marinette had dealt with the beast, she had returned for him to come back to live with her.

It is a pretty tale, the kind of love story that makes adults sigh wistfully and makes children dream. It is sweet and charming and everything a talented huntress like Marinette deserves.

And Fu does not believe a word of it.

He is old, older than most in the village, and there is something in the young man’s eyes that reminds Fu of stories he had known long ago.

There are always stories, of course, of the shapeshifters. Those elusive creatures that are sometimes animal and sometimes humanlike, and always incredibly beautiful; those creatures that can be yours if you only take their skin, for ancient magic will bind them to you for as long as you possess it.

There are stories, yes, but in Fu’s youth, those stories had been believed. For there had been a man in the village with a wife of great beauty, a semblance of youth even as he aged next to her, and a peculiar quality in her eyes that never seemed quite human. The rumors said that the man had once caught a particularly fine elk, and as he prepared to take her life, she had changed, offering her skin in return for her life.

Fu does not know if all the details were true, but it was a story much like the others, and he has no reason to doubt it. But in all the stories, the shapeshifters took the forms of prey, and many of those ended in trouble enough. He does not know what trouble would come from binding a fellow hunter, least of all one as ruthless as the beast Marinette had pursued.

But first, he must confirm his suspicions, so he waits until he can approach Marinette alone.

“I told you I would return,” Marinette says. The pelt around her shoulders is too clean and shapely, and Fu gives it a critical eye.

“Getting mixed up with ancient magic rarely ends well,” he warns.

“So you guessed it,” Marinette says, with only mild surprise. “I’d wondered if anyone would.”

“How did it happen?”

And so Marinette tells him. She tells him of how she pursued the beast, coming to learn its patterns and moods. After some time, she came to be able to know its movements better than her own, anticipating every intention almost as soon as the beast had conceived it. She came to identify the creature as a great panther, and its fur was indeed as dark as the starless night.

She had cornered it, captured it, when she felt the taste of magic and the cat changed beneath her into a man. He was impressed by her cleverness and skill as a huntress, he had claimed, and offered himself to her in reward.

“Why should I trust you, when I cannot trust even your form?” Marinette had asked, convinced that this was some ploy to kill her when her guard was down.

But the cat-man held out his pelt to her, and she could feel the powerful magic on it, and knew that what he promised was true.

“I felt he could be a good ally in the usual hunts,” she says. “And strange as it seems, I have come to trust him, and he has come to trust me.”

“I do not trust magic of this sort,” Fu says. “Such creatures were not meant to be bound by mortals, even if it would seem so. But I trust you, Marinette, and hope that you will be cautious.”

“Of course.”

And he does trust her word, so he watches, but does not interfere, as they settle into village life. And while gossip drifts about, from minds too curious and idle who find Marinette’s husband a bit peculiar, a bit aloof – none of it comes close to the truth. Few expect magic to touch their lives, after all, even those who believe in it.

Months turn into years, and the couple seems to make the most of their situation, seeming quite happy with one another. They are formidable hunters, more successful together than they ever were apart, and they have brought much to the village. The people of the village idealize their partnership, seeing it as a goal that they all must reach (would they feel the same if they knew the chains involved?).

Many have started asking the young couple about children, exclaiming how beautiful and talented such offspring would inevitably be (Fu wonders if they would be mortal or magic or something in-between, if they can even be conceived).

For all appearances, they are a happy, _normal_ young couple.

Then, one day, there are fires on the horizon and rumors of invaders devastating every town and village in their path. The people are tense and afraid, and the hunters and huntresses take up their weapons and prepare to become warriors. It is a different kind of fear, now, than when the beast had been untethered. Battle is very different from starvation, and there are more who are willing to take action, more who know how to.

At the center of it all, of course, is Marinette, preparing and making sure everyone has what they need. And so battle comes to the village, just as they feared, and there is the clashing of steel and the twinge of arrows and Fu can watch no longer. He does not know what he should do, so he seeks out Marinette.

The battle is slowly turning against them, and Marinette looks strained. Her husband fights beside her, bright and feral in battle, but even he is struggling against the greater numbers. Marinette looks up and meets Fu’s eyes, and he knows in that moment that she is going to do something reckless.

She gestures to her husband, and they both retreat on their position, moving closer to Fu.

“What will you do, Marinette?” he asks.

“I have an idea. You won’t like it.” She turns to her husband, and his eyes widen as she slips off the pelt around her shoulders. She holds it out to him, and Fu jolts as he realizes her intentions.

“I release you from your bond to me, in exchange for your protection of this village,” Marinette says. Her husband takes the coat in wonder, nods once, and then Fu can feel the powerful shift of magic as the man changes into beast.

The panther charges off, and Fu looks at Marinette.

“Are you sure that was wise?” he asks, without condemnation.

“No,” she answers. “But I believe it’s what’s best.”

And perhaps she is right, for she charges back out into battle, and alongside the beast their enemies are brought down one by one, and soon the battle is over, just smoke and blood and unnatural quiet. The survivors gather, and mourn their dead, and they stare nervously at the beast. Fu can see the confusion in their eyes, and the realization in others – the stories of shapeshifters are known, after all, just tucked away as fantasy more often than not until there is reason to believe in them again.

The beast lingers as they bury their dead and destroy the corpses of the invaders. Nervousness settles into a wary acceptance, and many had seen the beast defend them, so there is more uncertainty than fear.

When the last body is buried and dawn breaks on the horizon, the beast turns for the mountains.

Marinette hesitates.

“It is your choice,” Fu murmurs. “You love him, but he never belonged here.”

“Perhaps I don’t, either,” Marinette says softly. “I don’t wish to bind him, but to be by his side.”

“Then go, and farewell, Marinette.”

“Farewell, Master Fu.”

And Marinette follows into the mountains.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my [Dreamwidth](https://peppermint-shamrock.dreamwidth.org/) for daily WIP excerpts and sneak peaks, or follow my [Miraculous Tumblr blog](https://ladyofcreation.tumblr.com/)!


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